List of University of Pennsylvania people

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This is a working list of notable faculty, alumni and scholars of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, United States.

Faculty[edit]

Academia[edit]

Penn alumni are the (a) current or past presidents of over one hundred (100) universities and colleges including Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Cornell University, University of California system, University of Texas system, Carnegie Mellon University, Northwestern University, Tulane University, Bowdoin College, and Williams College and (b) eight medical schools including New York University Medical School, and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Arts, media, and entertainment[edit]

Athletics[edit]

College football Hall of Famers[edit]

Head coaches (of any sport)[edit]

NFL champions[edit]

Olympic medalists[edit]

The university currently holds the record (21) for most medals won by its alumni at any single Olympic Games (1900 Summer Olympic Games), and at least 43 different alumni have earned Olympic medals as detailed below.

Professional basketball players[edit]

Professional football players[edit]

Professional baseball players[edit]

Fencing[edit]

Rowing/Crew[edit]

Other athletes[edit]

Sports executives and owners[edit]

Business[edit]

For a more comprehensive list of notable alumni in the business world, see Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. (Note: Not all of the following individuals attended the Wharton School, but may be alumni of other schools within the University of Pennsylvania).

Company founders[edit]

Other entrepreneurs and business leaders[edit]

Exploration[edit]

Government, politics, and law[edit]

Colonial American leaders[edit]

Members of the Continental Congress[edit]

Signers of the US Constitution and/or Declaration of Independence[edit]

Sources: University of Pennsylvania Archives[258][259]

  • George Clymer: Penn Trustee 1779–1813; an elected member of the Continental Congress who was one of only six people who signed the Declaration of Independence and signed (for Pennsylvania) US Constitution[260]
  • Thomas FitzSimons, Penn Trustee 1789–1811: signed (for Pennsylvania) US Constitution
  • Benjamin Franklin, Penn founder and Trustee 1749–1790: was one of only six people who signed the Declaration of Independence and signed (for Pennsylvania) US Constitution
  • Francis Hopkinson, Penn degrees A.B. 1757; A.M. 1760; LL.D. 1790; Penn Trustee 1787–1791: signed the Declaration of Independence
  • Jared Ingersoll, Penn Trustee 1778–1791: signed the US Constitution
  • Robert Morris, Penn Trustee 1778–1791: one of only six people who signed the Declaration of Independence and signed (for Pennsylvania) US Constitution
  • Thomas McKean, Penn degrees: A.M. (hon.) 1763 and LL.D. 1785; Penn Trustee 1779–1817; president of Penn Board of Trustees: signed the Declaration of Independence
  • Thomas Mifflin, Penn degree: A.B. 1760; Pennsylvania delegate to the Continental Congress and president of the Continental Congress; 1st Governor of Pennsylvania; signed US Constitution
  • William Paca, Penn degrees: A.B. 1759 and A.M. 1762; Penn Trustee; Maryland delegate to the Continental Congress, 1774–79; signed the Declaration of Independence;[261] Chief Justice of Maryland (1788–1790)
  • Benjamin Rush, Penn Med class of 1766; Penn Med professor 1769–1813; signed the Declaration of Independence
  • Hugh Williamson, Penn degrees: A.B. 1757, A.M. 1760, and LL.D. (hon.) 1787; tutor 1755–1758; Penn professor of mathematics 1761–1763: North Carolina delegate to the Continental Congress, signed US Constitution; representative to US Congress[262]
  • James Wilson, Penn degrees A.M. (hon.) 1766 and LL.D. 1790; Penn Trustee; delegate to Continental Congress; signed the Declaration of Independence and signed (for Pennsylvania) US Constitution, the first draft of which he wrote; US Supreme Court justice[263]

United States government[edit]

Presidents of the United States[edit]

Members of the United States Cabinet (or top level executive branch)[edit]

United States senators[edit]

As of May 2020, 31 Penn alumni have served as senators from 16 different states as detailed below:

Members of the United States House of Representatives[edit]

As of May 2020, 163 Representatives from 21 different states have been affiliated with Penn

United States ambassadors[edit]

As of July 2021, Penn alumni have served as United States ambassadors to at least 51 different countries.

State government[edit]

Governors[edit]

As of May 2020, 48 Penn alumni or trustees have served as governors of 24 different states, Puerto Rico and American Samoa.

State legislators[edit]

At least 53 Penn alumni and/or trustees have served in state legislatures in at least 18 states (at least five of whom have served as speaker of their respective houses of representatives (in Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, and Pennsylvania) and one of whom served as President of New Jersey Senate.

Mayors[edit]

At least 50 Penn alumni or trustees have served as Mayors of cities in at least 22 states, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (including Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, Nashville, New Orleans, Philadelphia (10), Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Saint Louis, Saint Paul, Salt Lake City, San Antonio (2), San Francisco (2))

State Supreme Court justices[edit]

As of February 2023, twenty-nine (29) Penn alumni have served as justices of supreme courts of ten (10) different states and the District of Columbia, and eleven (11) have served as chief justices of a state supreme court.

U.S. federal judges[edit]

As of February 2024 there are at least 84 Penn Alumni and/or faculty who have been appointed judges in United States federal court system (3 of whom have served on the Supreme Court, at least 23 of whom have served on Courts of Appeals, and at least 50 of whom have served on District Courts)

United States Supreme Court Justices[edit]

United States Courts of Appeals Judges[edit]

Other United States Court Judges (District Courts, and other federal courts)[edit]

State Attorneys General[edit]

As of January 2023 there are at least 20 Penn Alumni who have been attorneys general in 5 states and District of Columbia

Other state, or local executive or judicial branch officials[edit]

Foreign governments[edit]

Heads of state and government[edit]

Penn alumni have served as heads of state of 11 different countries (in addition to the United States).

Mayors in cities not part of USA[edit]

Legislators, Members of Parliaments not part of the United States[edit]

Foreign Judiciary[edit]

Foreign Ambassadors[edit]

Foreign government finance officials[edit]

Other foreign officials[edit]

Lawyers, advisors, and civil rights leaders[edit]

Medicine[edit]

As is detailed below, Penn Med has 4 alumni and 2 faculty members who were awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Military[edit]

Medal of Honor recipients[edit]

Air Force officials[edit]

Army officials[edit]

Coast Guard officials[edit]

Marine Corps officials[edit]

Merchant Marine officials[edit]

Navy officials[edit]

Philosophy, theology, and religion[edit]

Science and technology[edit]

Other[edit]

Notorious[edit]

Fictional alumni[edit]

Nobel laureates[edit]

Physics[edit]

  • George E. Smith: 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics
    • "for the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit—the CCD sensor."
  • Raymond Davis: 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics
    • for "pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos."
  • John Robert Schrieffer: 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics (first Penn faculty member to win)
    • for the "theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory."
  • Robert Hofstadter: 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics
    • "for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his thereby achieved discoveries concerning the structure of the nucleons."

Chemistry[edit]

  • Ei-ichi Negishi: 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (earned Ph.D. at Penn School of Arts and Sciences due to having won a Fulbright Scholarship awarded in 1963):[828][829]
    • for "palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis."
  • Irwin Rose: 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    • "for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation."
  • Alan MacDiarmid: 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    • "for the discovery and development of conductive polymers."
  • Hideki Shirakawa: 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    • "for the discovery and development of conductive polymers."
  • Alan J. Heeger: 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    • "for the discovery and development of conductive polymers."
  • Ahmed H. Zewail: 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    • "for his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy."
  • Christian B. Anfinsen: 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    • "for his work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the connection between the amino acid sequence and the biologically active conformation."
  • Vincent du Vigneaud: 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
    • "for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone."

Medicine[edit]

  • Gregg Semenza: 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • "for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability"
  • Harald zur Hausen: 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • "for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer."
  • Stanley B. Prusiner: 1997 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • "for his discovery of Prions: a new biological principle of infection."
  • Michael S. Brown: 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • for his discovery "concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism."
  • Baruch Samuel Blumberg: 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • "for their discoveries concerning new mechanisms for the origin and dissemination of infectious diseases."
  • Gerald Edelman: 1972 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • for the discovery "concerning the chemical structure of antibodies."
  • Haldan Keffer Hartline: 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • for the discovery "concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye."
  • Ragnar Granit: 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • "for describing the different types of light-sensitive cells in the eye and how light interacts with them."
  • Richard Kuhn: 1938 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • "for his work on carotenoids and vitamins."
  • Otto Fritz Meyerhof: 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
    • "for his discovery of the fixed relationship between the consumption of oxygen and the metabolism of lactic acid in the muscle."

Economics[edit]

  • Thomas J. Sargent: 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics
    • "for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy."
  • Oliver E. Williamson: 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics
    • "for his analysis of economic governance, especially the boundaries of the firm."
  • Edmund S. Phelps: 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics
    • "for his analysis of intertemporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy."
  • Edward C. Prescott: 2004 Nobel Prize in Economics
    • "for his part in contributing to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles."
  • Lawrence Robert Klein: 1980 Nobel Prize in Economics
    • "for the creation of economic models and their application to the analysis of economic fluctuations and economic policies."
  • Simon Smith Kuznets: 1971 Nobel Prize in Economics
    • "for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development."

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Template:Reflist

Bibliography[edit]

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